Tourney torment over for Taranaki

Taranaki's miserable run at the national interprovincial men's golf tournament at the Balmacewen course in Dunedin mercifully came to an end yesterday.

Taranaki lost their final two games - 4 - to Auckland in the morning and 4-1 to Manawatu-Wanganui in the afternoon - to finish 13th overall in the 15-team competition.

While Bay of Plenty, Manawatu-Wanganui, Tasman and Southland meet in the semifinals this morning, the Taranaki players can pack their bags for the return trip home reflecting on a one-win, five-loss run at the annual event. The solitary win came in round one - 3-2 over Aorangi.

Taranaki were never in the hunt against Auckland with No 5 Brook Gray and No 4 Joseph Doyle both losing 5 and 3, while Zac Lewis managed to square his match with Tae Koh. Jamie Reid went down 5 and 4 with No 1 Brad Hayward always behind against Sam An losing 4 and 3.

Things never improved in the afternoon, with Gray losing 3 and 2 to Manawatu-Wanganui's Hayden Ring. Doyle was in much better form but couldn't pull off a victory, losing 1-down to Junior Tatana. Lewis halved his match with Trent Munn, as did Reid in his match against Lachie McDonald. Hayward went down 3 and 2 to Josh Munn.

Reid was the best performed of the Taranaki players over the week with three wins, a half and two losses. Hayward and Doyle both had two-win, four-loss records while Lewis had one win, two halves and three losses. Doyle lost all six games.

Tasman booked a place in the semifinals with a win over North Harbour and will face Manawatu-Wanganui this morning. Tasman looked dead and buried after two rounds with a loss and a half, but stormed back to win their last four matches. If Tasman make it through to the final and win, it will only be the second time in the 61-year history of the tournament they have managed to get their name on the trophy.

Defending champions Southland kept their title hopes alive with an emphatic 4-1 win over Auckland in the seventh and final round. They play Bay of Plenty, the team they beat 3-2 in 2011 to win the title.